A red sun's last ray painted upon the Sith's mask a dance of bright orange fire as he sat in meditation. The dancing flames faded slowly with the last dying light until it was relieved by the burning torches arranged around the man. Slowly and with purpose he rose, taking a step towards the figure lying on the floor's centre point so as to free them of the heavy cloth prison that held them. He began with the feet and worked his way up. With each layer that came off a little more of the figure was revealed until finally a Rodian man in simple spacer's clothes was exposed, though he remained unmoving. He appeared frozen in place, unable to even lift a finger as though he was put under some ancient spell. And indeed he was, for the Sith's power was what had kept him there. The poor figure was embraced in his entirety by the Force, put into a stasis and unable to do more than take breath.
The Sith lingered over the man a moment, simply staring, examining. Although he could not physically hear it, the thumping of the man's heart was so intense that the Sith standing above him could perceive it. He drank it in, allowing himself to relish the moment for several still seconds. The peace was finally broken when the Sith nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the Rodian's own. "Relish these moments." For a moment again he paused. "It's a wonderful thing, to feel, isn't it?"
He turned away to lift a small carving knife from the unfurled cloth upon which the bowl rested. With a long step he moved again to the Rodian's side and knelt. With painstakingly slow motions the Sith brought the knife down towards the Rodian's neck, holding its blade against the leathery skin for several heartbeats. Blue, bulbous eyes fixed on the Sith's gloved wrist. Unable to move his neck, the Rodian could only feel the blade on his throat, yet he seemed desperate to see with his own eyes, as though his gaze alone could stop keep it from drawing blood. The blade pressed in deeper and the Rodian's eyes widened ever so slightly before in an instant, the Sith changed the knife's direction and slashed through the Rodian's shirt, exposing his bare skin.
The Sith went to lay away the knife and while he did so, the Rodian felt himself being lifted, then repositioned, so he hovered with his head pointing towards the sky at an angle, suspended by an invisible power. The Sith returned to him with bowl in hand, raised to be at the same height as his chin. Slowly he brought it towards the Rodian's, now open, mouth succumbed to the same power that kept him afloat. The bowl's foul contents tasted bitter and revolting. The Rodian's struggle against each gulp he was forced to take was palpable despite his lack of control over even the tiniest muscle. Soon enough the wooden container was empty, placed back on the cloth. Under normal circumstances, it would take several minutes for the mixture to spread throughout the Rodian's system, but the Sith was impatient. Calling upon ancient powers once more, he reached out and placed a hand upon the bared chest, letting the malignant energy he channelled flow into the man.
Instantly the effects became visible. Dark lines began to spread from the place where the gloved hand touched dry, leathery skin. Further and further outward they grew as though the Rodian's skin had become transparent, allowing one to peer at the blackened veins beneath. A wind began picking up around them, at first soft and invisible, but as the black veins spread the wind grew more violent and turned to black mist swirling around the two. The baleful taint had taken the Rodian's chest fully and begun spreading onto his limbs. The area beneath the Sith's hand was entirely pitch black. Then, the wind's howl was pierced by loud, long shrieks. For the first time in days, the Rodian was given the ability to move again, though only partially. His arms and legs still appeared to be frozen in place, yet his upper body and head violently raged against their invisible restraints.
The Sith's palm withdrew from green skin, leaving behind only fingertips. The wind grew to be a storm, now. Black robes wildly thrashed as the wind's direction changed, seemingly emanating from the two figures at extreme speeds whilst also swirling upwards in many overlapping helices. The howling noise was barely drowned out by shrill, pained shrieks, which in turn faded as the Sith's voice rang out above the chaos, amplified and unnatural in tone.
"Hͪ̅̔̊ͭͥý̠̮ͣ̃ͣ̀̏̔â̹̗͎̦͙̏̎̉͊ͯĺ̘ ̲̮͍͉̤͆ͫ̍̋ͥ̔̓n̤̑͒̒͑ͨ͆u͖͈̻̼͈̓̑͐̔̆ ̹͚̣̤̹̥̗ͥͬͦ͌̈́͌̓s̥̟aͪä͙̻̠͖́ͪͥ͌ͅr̠̪̮̹̤̮͓ͤ̃ͬ̈́ͧͧͯa͇̯̯͇ͫï̝͈t͎̝̺̀́̏̈́̓ͣs̩̱̟̘ͭͧ̒̀̀̚ͅị̝̠̰s͓̳̰͚̟͓̘'̫̗̱͈̘ͯͫ̓ͬͭa̝̲̠ͪ̈́ͥ̌̊͐r̖͚͉̥͎̪ͭ̾̊i͚ͮͨͨͮͯa̖͉̩̜̦̍̾nͩͮ̌͗̔̍j̱̼̟̯͙̗̆a̹̯̺̬t̫.̲̠̬͍͉̜̂ͣ͆ ͕̍̓̋ͨ͋Ḵ͌͂̑ͧ̏ͪͯo̰̱͕̻̺ͤͧ̀ͅt́̓s͚̼̐̉̄̾w̬̹̬̳̏͂ͧͮͨi̻̮̹̯̻̲n͊̅ͫ̉̔̍ ͔̳͔̲̘n̩͛ͨw͖̰͈̼ͨͫû͓͚̤̩̫͍l̺͕̠͈̙͐ͫͩ̽͆.̬͔̤̞ ͈̯̣̜̆ͤ̄̂Wͣͯ̓̓̑̇͗ò̲͍͍̱͔̫ͥͤ̃ͯͮ͗n̜͇̫̬͈͇ͦ̓w̐̋̔̍i̹̪̣̗̠͎ǹ̥̜̭̺̏͋͗̀ͨ̓okͨ͆̉ͪ̚̚̚s̠̏̽͋̈́h̳͓̬ͧ ̺̙̤̤ͪ̈́m͙͎̥̲̘͚̬̎̀ͨͭ̓iͧd̖̝̝ͯwͭ̾̊ͮa͉̰̠̬ͩ̒̇̏̎ṉ̮̝ ͍̰̥̼̈́q̼͙ͥ̿̅̓͑y̹̪̙͙̯͔ͤ̆̔̏͂̄â̺̩̯̠͎̣s̼̰̬̈i̫̩̗̞ͯ͗̔̏͆ͤͭͅkͯa̹̲͚̬n̤͍͔̿̅̓ͅj͎̜ͦ̄ͬ͋a̮̮ͪͣͨ̔ṭ̳ͫ̂̌̂̓̇!̒̂̆̍̐̈"
The ancient syllables rang across the platform, seemingly echoing within the storm for several moments until they too had to give way to a deafening last howl of pain from the Rodian. For as the words danced across the winds, the Sith's fingertips had begun submerging themselves within the black flesh beneath them. Slowly, excruciatingly, they dug in, inch by inch they disappeared into the Rodian's chest until his hand was covered to the wrist. The Rodian's howls were shattering in volume at this point, his entire body still with shock as the Sith's hand remained within its victim for several long seconds, wrist tensing as though his fingers had curled around something with a great amount of force.
Almost instantly the Sith's arm jerked backwards, ripping out of the blackened chest and quickly thrust skyward. Black liquid burst out of the Rodian's chest as the hand left it and his howls faded concurrently, his face now gazing skyward, lifeless and still, eyes seemingly fixed on the Sith's hand. For within it was the shape of a heart, black and still beating. With each thump it gave off, the storm intensified for the breifest of moments, as though it had become shackled to the heart's rhythm itself. A pale shimmer began rising from the dead Rodian, twisting and twirling into a thin vortex which concluded within the heart.
"C͕͙̝̣̝̣̝ͪ͊̂̐ͯ̾h͕͉͙̤͚̯̺͂ͥ̂ͨ̑͑̾â͉̫͔͖̖͊ͮͫ̇ͥț͓͖̯̥̯̽sa̺̗͗ͩ͋̚̚ẗ̩͕̫͓͓̯́͆̊̆ͪu̫̩̘̯͎̻̺͛͆ͦ͒̾͋l͓̺̮̒ͬ̎ͥ͋̚ ͕ͣ̍q̱͖̰̜̓̏ŏ̞̓ͬ m̻͙̭̗ͨĩ̹̹̥̰̜̹ͦͮͣ͗d͚̫͇̼̠̄ͩ̆ͥͭw͍͖ͩͩ̓a͙͍̺̯͕̻ͅn̬̝͈͈̘ͤ̊͒͛a̺̪̮͇̜̟̣ͩ̎̇n̳̹̞͚͚͍͇͆ͮ͋ͣǰ̅̓ͨͩ͂a̺̝͕̠͈̜͛͆͋ͦt͎͖͚͔͉ͣ.̉ͯ͌̓"
Once more the ancient words thundered into the storm, yet this time there were no howls to meet them. Instead, they were met in kind, by thunder from above. The searing light descended in an instant. An explosion of heat shot through the Sith's hand and arm as his vision went white and he felt as though he were no longer bound by the laws of physical existence.
